16 mango varieties exported to Bahrain: Govt

New Delhi [India], June 8 (ANI): In a major boost to mango exports potential from the eastern region, exports of as many as 16 varieties of mangoes from West Bengal and Bihar to Bahrain commenced on Tuesday, the Commerce Ministry said.
The fruits have been sourced from farmers in Bengal and Bihar, it said
Sixteen varieties of mangoes include three GI certified Khirsapati and Lakshmanbhog (West Bengal), Zardalu (Bihar).
As per the the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the fruits have been sourced from farmers in Bengal and Bihar by agriculture and processed food production Export Development Authority (APEDA) registered exporter, DM enterprises, Kolkata and imported by Al Jazeera group, Bahrain.
APEDA has been initiating measures to boost mango exports from non-traditional regions and states. APEDA has been conducting virtual buyer-seller meet and festival to promote mango exports.
Recently in a bid to increase mangoes exports to South Korea, APEDA in collaboration with Indian embassy, Seoul and the Indian Chamber of Commerce in Korea, organised a Virtual Buyer Seller Meet. APEDA has recently organised a mango festival in Berlin, Germany.
Due to the ongoing COVID pandemic, the export promotion programmes were not possible to be organised physically. APEDA took a lead to organize a virtual meet to provide a platform to the exporters and importers of mangoes from India and South Korea.
For the first time in this season, India has shipped a consignment of 2.5 Metric Tonne (MTs) of Geographical Indication (GI) certified Banganapalli and other variety Survarnarekha mangoes sourced from farmers in Krishna and Chittor districts of Andhra Pradesh
The mangoes exported to South Korea, were treated, cleaned and shipped from the APEDA assisted and registered packhouse and vapor heat treatment facility at Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh and exported by IFFCO Kisan SEZ (IKSEZ).
This was the first export consignment sent by IKSEZ, which is a subsidiary of IFFCO, a multi-state cooperative with a membership of 36,000 societies. There is possibility of more exports of mangoes to South Korea this season. IFFCO Kisan SEZ has an agreement with Meejaim, South Korea for supplying 66 MTs of mango this season.
Alphonso, Kesar, Totapuri and Banganpalli are leading export varieties of mango from India. Mango exports primarily take place in three forms: fresh mango, mango pulp, and mango slice.
Mangoes are processed by the APEDA registered packhouse facilities and then exported to various regions and countries including middle east, European Union, USA, Japan and South Korea. (ANI)